Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) starts tomorrow's Critérium du Dauphiné with a favourite's chance despite the presence of some of the world's best stage race riders, according his compatriot David Millar (Garmin-Barracuda). British rider Wiggins won the race last year and has enjoyed success this season by winning Paris-Nice and the Tour de Romandie, prompting many observers to suggest that he could win this year's Tour de France.

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Millar, who will be on the start line for the Dauphiné alongside other Tour de France hopefuls such as last year's winner Cadel Evans (BMC) and runner-up Andy Schleck (RadioShack-Nissan), is in agreement that Wiggins is in the form of his life and is fully taking advantage of the resources available to him at Team. It is a trend that he expects to continue in the prestigious seven stage WorldTour race that runs from tomorrow's 5.7km prologue in Grenoble until the following Sunday.

"He'll be expected to win the Dauphiné and that's the mindset he has now in every race he does," Millar told British newspaper The Independent.

"Judging by the Tour of Bayern, he'll have the strongest team there. It's going to be a bit of a Sky display, I think. [The Dauphiné] is the closest to a mini-Tour de France because it's got all the elements on a slightly shorter scale. It's a bit of a weird one, because if you're going well there's a good chance you'll be going well at the Tour. Brad and the people around him know what he's doing there, there's no reason why he can't do very well there and even better at the Tour."

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